Part 9

The sound came out of nowhere—THUD. Heavy. Wet. Like a body being hurled against wood.

Everyone snapped awake at once.

Another THUD, closer now, angrier. The door shuddered in its frame.

Aliyah made a small choking sound and buried her face in Dacre's chest.

"DACRE!"

The scream cut through the motel room like broken glass.

"Shh," Dacre whispered automatically, though his heart was already hammering hard enough to bruise his ribs.

The voice came again—higher now, ragged with panic. "DACRE, OPEN THE DOOR!"

Nathan was upright in a second, gun in hand, eyes cold and alert. Keira stared at the door like it might grow teeth and lunge at them.

"Who is that?" Dacre called, hating how small his voice sounded.

The pounding intensified. Something slammed against the door with enough force to bow it inward.

Keira lifted her head, eyes wide and glassy. "I don't recognize the voice," she whispered.

Nathan moved slowly, carefully, each step measured. "I've got this," he murmured, positioning himself beside the door.

"DACRE, PLEASE!"

"Let me check the peephole," Dacre said, already moving.

Nathan stepped aside, gun still trained forward. Dacre leaned in and peered through the warped little lens.

A woman stared back.

Her hair was wild, plastered to her face with blood and grime. One eye was nearly swollen shut. Her hands were raw—nails cracked, fingers bleeding from beating the door over and over. She looked less like a person and more like something that had crawled out of a wreck.

"DACRE!" she screamed again, slamming her fists against the wood.

"Jesus," Dacre breathed. "Who are you?"

She froze at the sound of his voice, then pressed her face directly to the peephole, one red-rimmed eye staring straight into his soul.

"It's me," she sobbed. "It's Leah."

"Leah?" The name tasted unfamiliar and wrong.

Her strength seemed to drain all at once. She slid down the door until she crumpled to the ground, shoulders shaking as sobs tore out of her.

Nathan glanced at Dacre, gun steady. Let her in? he mouthed.

Aliyah crept closer and looked through the peephole herself. She gasped. "Leah... she was with us before everything went to hell." She swallowed. "She's hurt, but I don't see bites. Please, Dacre."

Dacre paced, running a hand through his hair. "How does she know I'm here? How did she even find us?"

"She knew you before," Aliyah said quickly. "She was close with Tyler. She could've followed him. Or overheard something."

Outside, Leah's sobbing grew louder, more desperate. "Please... please don't leave me out here."

"This feels wrong," Dacre said, breath coming fast.

Nathan nodded. "Could be bait. Could be leading something worse right to our door."

Leah suddenly went quiet.

She pressed her ear against the door. "Dacre?" she whispered.

No one answered.

"I'm alone," she said weakly. "I swear to God. Everyone else is dead. All of them."

"All of them?" Dacre called. "Every single one?"

Her voice broke apart completely. "Yes... bitten... torn apart... I don't even know anymore." She sniffed hard. "I'm the only one left."

Her voice dropped to a trembling whisper. "Please. I'm so scared."

"Are you bitten?" Dacre shouted.

There was frantic movement outside. Leah yanked up her shirt, slamming her stomach against the windowless wood. "Look! I'm clean!" She shoved her sleeves up next, arms bare. "No bites! I swear!"

She started pounding again, hysterical now. "LET ME IN!"

Dacre clenched his fists. "Nathan—gun up. Aliyah, open it."

Aliyah nodded, jaw tight. She unlocked the door and cracked it open just enough.

Leah lunged forward instinctively, but Aliyah shoved back hard. "Slowly," she ordered, gun raised. "One step."

"Don't try anything," Dacre warned.

Leah stumbled inside, legs giving out the moment she crossed the threshold. She collapsed onto her knees, gasping, sobbing, shaking.

She looked wrecked. Bloody. Torn. Haunted.

But as far as anyone could see... untouched by zombies.

Dacre dropped to one knee in front of her.

"How are you hurt?" he asked.

Leah lifted a shaking hand to her forehead and winced. "I fell," she said softly. "Hit my head hard." Her breath caught, shallow and uneven. "My ribs too. Hurts when I breathe."

She looked around the room then—really looked. At the guns. The beds. The people who were still alive. Her gaze finally landed on Dacre and stayed there, clinging.

"Dacre."

"Yes?" he said, though something cold had started crawling up his spine.

Her face crumpled. Tears poured down, cutting clean lines through the dirt on her cheeks. "I need help," she whispered. "Please."

She reached for him. Her hand shook so badly it barely stayed in the air.

Nathan didn't lower his gun. Aliyah didn't blink.

"I'm not lying," Leah said quickly, almost too quickly.

Dacre swallowed. "How can I help you?"

"Bandages," she said. "Painkillers. Anything. Just... let me rest here for a bit." Her voice cracked. "Please."

Her eyes flicked to Tyler, sitting stiff in bed, staring at her like she was already a ghost.

"We don't have any," Dacre said, the words tearing out of him.

Leah's face fell apart completely. "Then... then just let me stay." Her voice went thin, desperate. "Just for a while. Until I'm better."

She started crawling toward him.

Slow. Broken. Ignoring the gun pointed straight at her head.

"Please," she whispered. "I'm so tired."

Dacre hesitated—just a breath too long.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt," he said.

Nathan and Aliyah exchanged a look sharp enough to cut glass, but neither stopped him. The guns lowered a fraction.

Leah reached him and grabbed his leg.

"Thank you," she breathed.

Then the world snapped.

Leah surged upward with sudden, animal strength, her hand clamping around Dacre's throat. Before anyone could shout, before anyone could move, her mouth opened wide—

—and she bit.

White-hot pain exploded through Dacre's neck. Blood burst free. His scream tore the room open.

Aliyah fired instantly. The shot slammed into Leah's shoulder and sent her flying back. Nathan was on her in a heartbeat, tackling her hard, fists raining down.

"DACRE, GET BACK!" Nathan roared. "GET BACK NOW!"

Keira screamed. Tyler didn't move at all.

Dacre staggered, clutching his neck as blood poured between his fingers, hot and slick and unstoppable.

Aliyah kicked Leah in the face with everything she had. Leah went limp.

"PRESS SOMETHING ON THE BITE!" Nathan screamed.

Dacre slid to the floor, vision blurring, hands red and shaking.

"I'm gonna die," he gasped. "I'm gonna d—"